Dhodia are an

Adivasi The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...

people who have been placed in the Indian communities recognition, under

Schedule Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

. The majority of the Dhodia

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

s are located in the southern part of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

(

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is situated between Surat & Mumbai. Navsari is a twin city of Surat. It is located 37 km south of Sura ...

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

and

Valsad Valsad (Pronunciation: �alsɑɖ (Gujarati: વલસાડ), historically known as Bulsar, is a city and a municipality in Valsad district of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the district headquarters of Valsad district. The city of Valsad ...

districts),

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in India. The territory was constituted through the merger of the former territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Plans for the proposed merger were announced by the ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

. In

, they are found mainly in the district of

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

. They speak

Dhodia language The tribal Kukna (Kokna) peoples speak a Kukna dialect and Dhodia peoples speak a Dhodia dialect Dhodia are an Adivasi people who have been placed in the Indian communities recognition, under Schedule Tribes. The majority of the Dhodia trib ...

, which has some unique words, as well as some words influenced by

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

.People of India Maharshtra Volume XXX Part One edited by B.V Bhanu, B.R Bhatnagar, D.K Bose, V.S Kulkarni and J Sreenath pages 529-535

Religion and customs

Most of the dhodia believe in traditional religious practice

majority of Dhodia follows Hinduism. Some however adapted

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Some are following their

AdiVasi The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...

traditions, worshiping nature. Dhodia also has many subcaste/Kul within them. Dhodia Females traditionally wear 'Kachhedo' or it called 'Dhadku' type of saree which mostly gives resembles of Marathi saree. Dhodia Girl

]

Festivals

They celebrate festivals that other Hindus do. Diwali, Holi are some examples. The majority of Dhodia believe in and are devoted to "Kanasari" or "Kanseri" (Goddess of food). They celebrate the "Kanseri" festival annually at harvest. The "Kanseri" Goddess is otherwise known as Goddess "Annapurna" by many Hindus. The Dhodia also celebrate "Divaso". Vagh baras is also celebrated in a unique fashion in some Dhodia villages where men colour themselves in stripes representing the Vagh( tiger) and others as plain white or other colours denoting cattle. The tiger chases the cattle. Finally at the end of the sport the village inhabitants eat together and celebrate. During five days of Diwali they celebrate their folk dance called Gheria. Also they make Bhakhras for pooja rituals to their Kuldev on this day. Bhakhra

References

https://pin.it/2k1Vztp

External links

*
Dhodia Website

Dhodia FaceBook PageDhodia FaceBook GroupDhodia CommunityRDGDhodia MatrimonyDhodia Blog
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150227123952/https://0de6a58964b2b3c6e429c65b6c9cc7851deeac5e.googledrive.com/host/0BzQepCWvI7qxflo1VDZQdVBnMTBncXhmWV9SRHNldm1PTEtNNnc5eS0zak5LdkpUcVVhUFU/Default.html Dhodia Book 2:ઢોડિયા જાતી: બોલી,સાહિત્ય અને સંસકૃતિ - સ્વ.શ્રી મંછારામભાઈ નારણદાસ પટેલ]
Dhodia Book 3:વડલો
{{Authority control Social groups of Gujarat Social groups of Maharashtra Scheduled Tribes of Dadra and Nagar Haveli Tribal communities of Gujarat Tribal communities of Maharashtra Scheduled Tribes of Gujarat Scheduled Tribes of Daman and Diu Scheduled Tribes of Goa